More Questions Than Answers – Robot Video

I'm a huge fan of online video and photo sharing. Sites like flickr and Google Video are fascinating, and trigger all sorts of new possibilities for information and idea proliferation.

The problem, at least in my limited experience with these services so far, is that people don't take the time to add enough information to make their posts useful. I'm probably just as guilty as anyone else in that regard.

For example, this 2 minute+ robot video is absolutely fascinating. I'm really curious about how the robot moves since its feet seem to slide along. Does it have special wheels hidden in its shoes? How does it handle rough surfaces? Who designed it? Is there any additional material or documentation?

Unfortunately, somebody went to all the time and effort to put it together and post it on Google, but didn't add any supporting information?

Why?

My guess is that they have a website located somewhere else in the ether. They either can't afford, or don't want to pay for all the bandwidth that distributing large video files requires. So, they put it up on the Google video site, then have links from their site that just pop open a new window. They get the video distributed, and Google pays for the bandwidth. They get what they want, and Google gets more content, page views, and exposure.

All of that's not a bad thing. In fact, I might try it myself when I have the need. The problem, and the missed opportunity, is people that stumble across their video via a Google search, as I did, have no idea what's going on, and no way to contact the original poster.

Anyway, its a cool video. I like it in spite of all the questions it raised for me.

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Entertainment robots, domestic helper robots, health care and senior care robots, and other robot applications in assisting mankind are covered regularly. The Robots Dreams video channel on YouTube includes new robot product news, exclusive coverage from major robot events including ROBO-ONE, the Wonderful Robot Carnival, and RoboGames. Robots Dreams is a member of the ROBO-ONE press, and an official corporate sponsor of RoboGames and the Wonderful Robot Carnival. The Robots Dreams Flickr photo gallery includes over 30,000 unique robot images taken by our dedicated staff covering robot news and robot competitions for the past ten years.